January 23, 2014 Public Meeting

January 23, 2014 Public Meeting

On January 23, 2014 the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will meet at 1:00 pm in public session in Room 309 at the George Washington University Marvin Center, 800 21st St. NW, Washington DC, to release itsindependent bipartisan report and related findings regarding the telephone records program conducted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, as well as on the operations of the FISA Court.

At the meeting, the Board will vote on the formal issuance of its report to the President, Congress and the public. Additional information on the Board’s review of the telephone records program, such as the prior public workshop and hearing, is available at www.pclob.gov. The January 23rd meeting is open to the public and a meeting notice has been published in the Federal Register at https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-00838. Attendance is open and pre-registration is not required. There will be a press availability after the meeting has concluded; the Board requests notification from any press that plan to attend.

The Board’s report will contain a detailed analysis of the Section 215 Program and the operation of the FISA Court. It will address the 215 Program’s statutory basis, constitutional implications, and whether it strikes the right balance between national security and privacy and civil liberties, and will make recommendations for legislative and program reform. The report will also recommend reforms to the operation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The report will be unclassified and available to the public. In the coming months, the Board will release a separate unclassified report regarding operation of the surveillance program under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. The Board’s review of these NSA surveillance programs has included two public hearings, receipt of dozens of public comments, meetings with advocates and private sector representatives, analysis of classified materials, and briefings by government agencies.